A Parting Glance at Halloween

 A few things that happened right before or after Halloween at our house.

We received a mysterious shipment of wands from Ollivander's shop (a friend far away).  The kids wer so stoked to get these handmade wands.  Aren't they beautiful?  Ah, I love having thoughtful, crafty friends!  You can make wands that look like these with paper (though these are made of real wood), its not too hard, see this link.  We made our own a few years ago for a Harry Potter party, inspired by this very friend!

My husband had some cream soda sitting in the fridge that we were mysteriously told was for a Halloween treat.  One night my husband called us down from getting ready for bed and we discovered he had made Butterbeer for everyone.  Just like the Butterbeer that we loved at Universal Studios Wizarding World of Harry Potter earlier this year.  Yuuuuuuuummmmmmm....(after eating an entire bag of Costco Halloween candy, just me, yes, just me, this is the last thing I needed, but it was so good!)  See here for a recipe, though there are tons out there.  I'm pretty sure my husband used the easier version toward the bottom.

The week before Halloween, it was my husband's idea to go on a little outing to see some old homes-- a street full of homes on the national historic register.

On our walk this little girl found a stick shaped like a rake, quickly raked some leaves together, and started jumping into the "pile."

Have you recovered from your candy coma yet?  What do you do with leftover candy?  I get to a point where I throw ours away so I'll quit eating it, but I haven't done that yet this year.

Halloween Party

We had a Halloween Party with some cousins.  It was a wonderful day.  We enjoyed a beautiful and happy day together in the gorgeous weather before the weather melted into drizzly rain and chilly days a couple of days later.

Just toilet paper rolls and cupcake liners.

When my six year-old couldn't find her bee costume, her sister pulled out her sewing kit and made her a little skirt!  It was halfway done when I found her making it.  I was really impressed with that thoughtful act.  And look how cute it turned out!  With no help or input from me.

Little boy discovered this little "bike" and had a great time.  Whoever thought of putting no pedals on a toy for this age is a genius.

I just want to eat up this little boy!

Gourd bacci (sp?) ball was a hit.  Very funny.  After the boys played, my son and I played with my father-in-law and his woman.  Made for a good laugh! 

Family Motto and Animal Craft Jar Idea

Last month when I learned about teaching my kids how to work, I gleaned some great ideas from The Parenting Breakthrough from Merrilee Boyack.  Finally, after all this time, I've (mostly) finished this one.  Update, 1.1.2014: I have mixed feelings about this book after thinking about it a little longer.  Not sure I would recommend it for parents of kids with ADD after reading Smart But Scattered by Dawson/Guare.

Her idea was to write down all the things you'd like to teach your children by the time they leave home at age 18.  She also talked about creating a family motto or slogan.  I read about this on this blog, too.

A couple of years ago, I decided if I could teach my kids only one thing, it would be "Love like His Son."  I made some vinyl lettering and it is now on our wall in the living room. 

Here is what my husband and I came up with to supplement the first slogan, with a few more nitty gritty details:

Below you'll find the sheets I made from www.Wordle.net to correspond to each part of the motto. They go in order Learn, Do, Be.  I know some of the things on my list wouldn't appeal to everyone, nor will they even apply exactly to each of my children (Eagle Scout, for example).  That is why I'm making individual ones for each child.  Plus, there needs to be some wiggle room as children get older and make their own choices.  For example, on the "do" list, I put "learn the Norweigian Concerto."  This is just symbolic of mastering an instrument, doesn't have to be that specific song or instrument.  I still haven't figured out how to display the sheets I made...this is just temporary.

We did another craft at the same time.  I wanted to make something for my kids to keep their tithing in when I saw a cute idea in Parenting magazine (so far, I wouldn't recommend this magazine, but I did enjoy this craft idea-- you can also see it with instructions here -- if I were to to it again, I'd do it exactly as it was done in the instructions...including using spray paint instead of acrylic).  It's meant to hold crayons and craft things.  My kids were playing so cute with the animals before we made them that I felt really badly taking their little playthings to make this craft.  Then they didn't want to paint "their" animals.  So I gave in and let them paint their own jars the way they wanted to.  They actually turned out really cute.  And my kids enjoyed themselves.  They even said to me "Mom, look how creative we are!  Aren't you glad we didn't paint our animals?"  I think they are right.